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"If I was sitting there in the Victorian parliament I wouldn't be voting for it," he told 3AW.

Former Labor prime minister Paul Keating said the bill was "unacceptable".

"Under Victorian law there will be people whose lives we honour and those we believe are better off dead," Mr Keating wrote in an opinion piece in Fairfax Media.

"No matter what justifications are offered for the bill, it constitutes an unacceptable departure in our approach to human existence and the irrevocable sanctity that should govern our understanding of what it means to be human."

Members take their seats to vote on an amendment to the Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill 2017 as it is debated in the lower house at the Victorian Parliament. ()Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews (centre) addresses parliament addresses parliament as the Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill 2017 is debated in the lower house. ()

Tensions within Labor have been running hot over the assisted dying bill, with Health Minister Jill Hennessy accidentally sending a controversial text to Deputy Premier James Merlino, who opposes the legislation.

She wrote, "He is a C U next Tuesday", which Mr Merlino took as an insult intended against him.

Ms Hennessy has been working on the assisted dying bill for more than three years, but Mr Merlino made a last ditch attempt to kill it off on Wednesday.